Pain and Gain (2013)

[Michael Gary Scott]

Other than The Rock performance and the movies style I couldn't get into this movie 3/5

[Plain Old Tele]

Sitting in the theater waiting for it to start. No one else here.

[baumer]

Don't forget about the spoilers I told you about.  

[Plain Old Tele]

[Plain Old Tele]

Hm.... well, the first half is sort of a rambly mess and there's all sorts of problems with tone and point-of-view throughout. Still, it was fitfully entertaining, and I'd much rather see Bay challenge himself like this than do another Transformers movie.

 

B-

[Plain Old Tele]

Now that I've read the other comments here:

 

One of the core problems with the second half is Ludo is basically a one-note character, and it really starts to jar when the story gets into the darker areas. Here's this guy who was obsessed with "the American dream" and everything, but up to that point he wasn't a complete psychopath. But once the bodies start to pile up, there's nothing that ever explores what he might be feeling (if anything). To that point, he was basically a goofy fuck-up who made some screwed up choices but somehow managed not to kill. Okay, but now we need more: how does a guy go from "Imma take my slice of the pie from THAT guy" to chopping up bodies and grilling off fingerprints without the slightest blink of an eye?

 

The constant shifting of POV (through narration) doesn't really help, as one moment we're an outsider taking an objective view (Ed Harris), one moment we're with Kershaw out for revenge, and then we're back with Ludo for more hijinks. It's really hard to pull that off while building drama and keeping humor; the Coens can do it, but Bay's not at their level for this sort of thing.

[Kvikk Lunsj]

I liked better than transformers, there are some problems but the movie is enjoyable plus the humor is pretty good. 

6/10

[rockNrollaDIM]

I enjoyed this. I'm glad Bay made it a black comedy instead of your standard "based on a true story" thriller.

 

The Rock was great. Agree that it was a bit too long though.

 

B

[Crusader]

Pretty good with an excellent parody of 'the american dream' or in this case nightmare 

 

Everyone was excellent and yes Rock was great but nobody is mentioning Mackie who absolutely killed it and was by far the best out of the trio to me 

 

Also the hot chick really had me drooling 

 

Anyway Bay needs to make more movies like these and less Transformers 

 

A strong 7/10 

[ACCA]

Overall a very interesting movie, I liked it overall, but I feel mixed about it.

 

To start, the acting was really solid, especially from Wahlberg, and The Rock. The Rock was absolutely hilarious, there were a ton of laughs and hilarious moments in the film, much of them for myself coming from The Rock. Kem Jeong's cameo was also very hilarious in the film.

 

The story was interesting, and overall the movie was quite entertaining until near the end when it got really freaky and messed up. What I liked most about the plot and story was how Bay mocked and parodied "The American Dream" and so many aspects of North American culture. The movie had a lot of symbolic and subtle undertones that not everyone would have noticed.

 

The action was solid as always with Bay, the cinematography was good, and the score fit the movie well.

 

The mixed feelings I have is the fact that it's based on a true story. The craziest part is that the freakiest moments in the film were all mostly true, and as baumer mentioned and provided the links, the true story is even weirder and freakier than what's shown in the film.

 

So I actually felt bad for liking the film, since it's based on such a horrific true story. It's almost as if I feel guilty for liking the film. Also the freaky parts in general were sort of off-putting to watch, since this is an action comedy and those are totally unexpected moments that in terms of tone and atmosphere you are completely unprepared for.

 

Had it not been based on a true story, I'd feel a lot less guilty about it.

 

Overall though, a very solid movie I feel, excluding the based on a true story aspect of it.

 

I give it a B/B+. The strange thing is, though despite some great comedy, I don't have much of a desire to watch it again, simply due to the true story aspect as well as the horrific parts at the end.

Edited June 7, 2013 by ACCA

[Maxmoser3]

Saw this a few months ago and walking in yes I knew this was based on a true story about Daniel lugo and the gang,but now as a movie this was a fun popcorn flick type movie just like what a Michael Bay movie usually is but is this his best film? No but I had still enjoyed Pain & Gain but would I watch it again? Yes. The film's story was pretty good,enjoyed the rock in this,overall I just really had fun and enjoyed this film but the horse tranquilizer and weight thing killing that guy was pretty gross,and also Bar Paly as a stripper as much as I don't like strippers she was hot. Overall grade as a Michael bay film:B+ for it keeping me entertained and enjoyed

[Maxmoser3]

Other than The Rock performance and the movies style I couldn't get into this movie 3/5

is three out of five a good thing?

[Jack Nevada]

I liked it. My biggest problems were the really excessive use of narration and the somewhat bloated runtime, and they were indeed big problems, but I laughed a good 15 times or so at these dumbasses. Dwayne Johnson was especially good. The movie is so banal, ugly, tasteless and OTT that it works almost in a Spring Breakers kind of way, but not as well3,5/5

Edited August 8, 2013 by Jack Nevada

[lab276]

It was pretty good actually. The use of narration was strange though, it felt a bit on the nose. I wish Bay would make more of these than more Transformers films.B+

[John Marston]

The Blu ray if this has absolutely no special features. None. Not even a trailer. What the fuck

[4815162342]

Best Michael Bay movie since The Rock., which also happens to be his only other film with Ed Harris in it.

[JonnyCraig]

So much potential here, and the cast is game but Bay's manipulation of events/characters and general crasness ultimately ruined it for me.

5/10

[mattmav45]

You know, in a way, this film was made for Michael Bay to direct.

 

It's a dumb story about shallow characters who really don't need any character development to work.  It has its moments, but it is absolutely overlong by about 30 minutes.  Still, this is Bay's best work in some time.

 

B-/C+

[ladyevenstar22]

i'm watching this and halfway i felt like taking it off, it has funny moments but i can't believe how incompetent they were!

 

agree the rock was very good in this, i like him he's cool guy!

 

agree with choice of end credits song so fitting to the movie "gangster's paradise"

Edited September 22, 2013 by ladyevenstar22

[Ozymandias]

Just saw this, and I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  It had some of the usual annoying Michael Bay shit in it, but for the most part it was good.  Dwayne Johnson stole the show.

 

B

Edited September 29, 2013 by Ozymandias